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Monday, March 26, 2012

Trayvon

Mothers in medicine is my refuge, my voice and my forum. So today, I am going to post about Trayvon. Today I will go to work with a hoodie on, I plan to do this every day until Trayvon’s murderer is arrested - AT LEAST ARRESTED. I’m sure some will wonder what this had to do with being a mother in medicine, and although it may not specifically apply, being a mother in medicine is pervasive in every part of my life. My heart aches for this innocent little boy and for his family because I now understand what it feels like to have a child. My heart aches because I have a little brother, who is my heart, who I love so much, who at age 17 wore hoodies all the time and he LOVES Skittles and Sour Patch Kids, and he is a brilliant, beautiful person, and I shudder to think that could have been him. My heart aches because the hoodie I will wear to work today is my husbands. It is the hoodie he wears home from the gym or basketball games after work. The hoodie he wears at night, in the dark and I know he is also no different from all the Trayvon’s in the world. My heart aches because I have seen first hand the violence of a bullet on human flesh. I have found the offending bullet in bodies that have, in an instant, been destroyed by a tiny yet destructive force. I have walked to the special room outside the ICU to deliver news of this destruction. My heart aches because every loss is huge and at the very least, when facing these huge horrible losses, every family deserves justice.

7 comments:

Thanks for posting this. I was sobering if someone on here was going to do that, although it might be irrelevant to some. I wanted to wear one but I don't currently own one. This is such a tragedy and so sad. What bothers me the most is that the maker of the law said Zimmerman did not fall under that law because he pursued Trayvon. Smh that he would cold bloodedly murder someone, say self defense and then just hoped that "everything was going to blow over." Like who says something like that after killing someone. A lot of things about that seem sketchy, even the testimonies and "new" recordings.

Thank you. I am still a trainee so unfortunately my activism has been limited to the internet. My Stepson just celebrated his 18th birthday yesterday (which is quite a milestone for a black male child) and he loves skittles. This Trayvon Martin issue has hit really close to home because Devin possesses this same innocence. I can't believe that the police didn't arrest him, it is up to a grand jury to decide it their is enough evidence for an indictment, not the police.

Every day as more details come out, my heart becomes more and more heavy. I remember being told by my parents that if a stranger approaches you you run and yell for help. If they grab you, you fight. Trayvon was a child and it was night time and a stranger was chasing him. I grieve for him and the fear he must have felt in his final moments. I grieve for his family, knowing that their son's murderer is still on the streets. No arrest?!? I am grieving for our society and our families.

Reflections on 3 days of hoodie wearing...Despite the fact that I am wearing a ridiculously oversized hoodie with the hood on indoors, NO ONE thinks anything of it! Most people just ask me if I'm cold which gives me an opportunity to talk about why I have the hoodie on. However, in wearing the hoodie, I realize that EVERYONE has hoodies on!!! Which just highlights the ridiculousness of this situation.

I have also inspired at least one more hoodie wearer. I am always proud when we as a society unite against injustice! Lets stop the madness!

I 100% feel that what happened to Trayvon is an awful thing and Zimmerman should be brought to justice. It's a travesty that he hasn't been arrested yet.

But I noticed something interesting today. I was out on the street yesterday evening and I saw a white man wearing a hoodie, and I instinctively moved away from him and felt a little frightened. Why did I feel that way? I don't know.

Thanks so much Cutter for posting this. My little sister was Trayvon's friend and went to school with him. This situation is devastating and disgusting. Unfortunately evil acts of violence against precious young black men (and men of other races) happen all too often. Many times unknowingly, we can't empathize with a parent's grief the way we normally would because the victim's family may not look or talk like "we do". Subconsciously it's difficult to make that connection because we in America (if the truth be told) are so race/color conscious (and no, I'm not Aftican-American). Many young black men experience things that so many of us are clueless about. Harvard graduates, honors students, upstanding responsible, intelligent, professional and good-hearted black men who wouldn't hurt a fly constantly get in elevators and just wait for women to clutch their purses as they move to the other end of the elevator. Tragically so many black men will walk in a parking lot, expecting the predictable sound of people quickly locking their door as he innocently walks by. There are these, and so many other experiences that are more than foreign to most of us. Obviously other groups are discriminated against, and no matter who it is, it should never be tolerated on any level. If we all did our part in shutting down even the subtlest forms of discrimination against anyone, I believe it could keep us from losing another precious son. I know that many will agree with me that we don't want Trayvon's murder to be in vain. Thank you so much Cutter.

Mothers in Medicine is a group blog by physician-mothers, writing about the unique challenges and joys of tending to two distinct patient populations, both of whom can be quite demanding. We are on call every. single. day.

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